The Dirt: Iris Wilson

It’s easy to spot Iris Wilson in the impressive dance ensemble of the Broadway musical Fela!: she’s front and center, shaking her bootylicious bod!

But Iris can do more than move her hips. She commands attention with her cool confidence and powerful movement. Bill T. Jones’ choreography fuses African and modern dance, and Iris fills each move with pulsing energy.

 

Before making her Broadway debut in Fela!, Iris performed with numerous companies, including KaNu Dance Theater, a Haitian-American group that blends contemporary, modern and Afro-Caribbean dance. When she’s not onstage, Iris teaches at It’s Dance, a community-based dance school that she owns with her sister near their hometown in Queens, NY. And Iris is a published author! Her book, Boys Dance Too, encourages young boys to explore the diverse world of dance.

 

If you’re in NYC, don’t miss Iris (and the rest of the fantastic cast) in Fela! at the Eugene O’Neill Theater.

 

One thing most people don’t know about you:
I hold an undergraduate degree in criminal justice.

 

If you weren’t a dancer/choreographer, what would you be?
I would be an anthropologist. I am fascinated by many cultures.

 

Most played song on your iPod:
Maxwell’s “Pretty Wings”

 

Who would play you in a movie?
Jada Pinkett-Smith

 

 

Photo courtesy Fela!